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Anna Karenina $12.00 DVD
Actors: Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew, Maureen O'Sullivan, May Robson Directors: Clarence Brown Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC Language: English Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Number of discs:
1 Run Time: 93 minutes 1935
Garbo won two consecutive New York Film Critics Awards for best actress in this and Camille--an altogether more
satisfying selection. At 95 minutes, this great David O. Selznick movie has a rich supporting cast of characters in Tolstoy's
thick novel (notably Kitty, through no fault of the perky Maureen O'Sullivan). Garbo's quiet "Too late, too late," as she
realizes early on what a tragedy her obsessive love affair must lead to, is exquisitely doomed; with Fredric March
as tiresome, even petulant, Vronsky. Oddly it is Basil Rathbone, icy-cold as the careerist husband Karenin, who inspires
more sympathy than the lover.
Anna Karenina, dutiful wife and doting mother, knows contentment but not passion. That
changes when she meets ardent Count Vronsky. For him, she throws away marriage, family, social position and finally her life.
Leo Tolstoy's novel receives sumptuous treatment in David O. Selznick's production. The cast - including Fredric March (as
Vronsky), Basil Rathbone, Maureen O'Sullivan and Freddie Bartholomew - is stellar under the direction of Clarence Brown. But
the soul of the film is Greta Garbo in a nuanced performance that won the New York Film Critics Best Actress Award. At the
height of her art, Garbo is unforgettable as a woman helpless in love's thrall and heartbroken at the loss of her son. Her
final scene will haunt you.
$10.00 Worldwide favorite Christmas movie.
A Christmas Carol
This, the colorized version of this 1951 Christmas Classic, is the desert-island choice of the many versions of A Christmas
Carol, with a magnificent and full-bodied portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge by Alastair Sim that leaves everyone else in the dust.
Lean and direct, this film's version of the story wastes no time trying to impress viewers with the magical nature of the
spirits' visitations. Director Brian Desmond Hurst keeps the focus on Scrooge's life story, beautifully simplifying and underscoring
the theme of his lost women with a haunting musical refrain from the folk song "Barbara Allen." Sim's commitment to the role
is at times astonishing; his Scrooge's Christmas-morning ecstasy is a marvel of giddy technique. Watch for Patrick Macnee
as the young Jacob Marley--the actor made his screen debut in this 1951 production.
Ebeneezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim) contentedly
meanders through his life as a cruel miser until one fateful Christmas Eve when he is visited by three ghosts. The spirits
show him how his behavior over the years has made him a lonely, bitter man, and how his heart has grown colder. Using events
from Scrooge's idealistic past, dreary present and dismal future, the apparitions try their best to melt his steely soul.
Tightfisted Ebenezer Scrooge learns the error of his ways through the intervention of the ghost of his former partner and
of the three spirits and, just in time for the holidays, manages to make everyone’s lives a little brighter, his included!
Actors: Alastair Sim, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Michael Hordern
Directors: Brian Desmond
Hurst
Format: NTSC
Language: English
$10.00 Dean Stockwell child movie classic.
The Boy With Green Hair
Finding a curiously silent young runaway boy (Dean Stockwell) whose head has been completely shaved, small town police
call in a psychologist (Robert Ryan) and discover that he is a war orphan named Peter Frye. Moving in with an understanding
retired actor named Gramps (Pat O'Brien), Peter starts going to school and generally begins living the life of a normal boy
until his class gets involved with trying to help war orphans in Europe and Asia. Peter soon realizes that -- like the children
on the posters, whose images haunt him -- he, too, is a war orphan. The realization about his parents and the work helping
the orphans makes Peter turn very serious, and he is further troubled when he overhears the adults around him talking about
the world preparing for another war. Peter awakens the next day and his hair has turned green, prompting him to run away after
being taunted by the townspeople and his peers. Suddenly, appearing before him in a lonely part of the woods are the orphaned
children whose pictures he saw on the posters. They tell him that he is a war orphan, but that with his green hair he can
make a difference and must tell people that war is dangerous for children. He leaves determined to deliver his message to
any and all. Upon his return, the townspeople chase Peter, and even Gramps tries to encourage him to consider shaving his
hair so that it might grow back normally. He agrees to get his head shaved, and the town barber does the job -- that night,
however, Peter runs away. Later reunited with Gramps, Peter learns that there are adults out there who accept what he has
to say and want him to go on saying it. He's sure that his hair will grow back in green again, and he will continue to carry
his message.
Actors: Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Barbara Hale, Dean Stockwell, Richard Lyon, See more
Directors: Joseph Losey
Format:
Import, NTSC
Language: English
1948
$10.00 Tim McCoy in a Western SciFi type Mystery!
Ghost Patrol
Low-budget producer Sigmund Neufeld borrowed some of Kenneth Strickfaden's famous gadgets for this unusual Western that
combines several genres: B-Western, gangster melodrama, and science fiction. With Sam Newfield (born Samuel Neufeld), the
producer's brother and a notorious hack, holding the megaphone, everything is just a little bit rushed, of course, but Strickfaden's
doodads add much-needed production values. Tim McCoy is fine as always and a good cast of old pros make sure that a good time
is had by all.
A cowboy turned G-Man looks into a series of mysterious plane crashes in this low-budget but fairly engrossing B-Western
starring Tim McCoy. Masquerading as an outlaw, Tim Caverly manages to infiltrate a gang of mail thieves holed up in a ghost
town. As Tim discovers, the gang leaders, Dawson (Walter Miller) and Kincaid (Wheeler Oakman), have kidnapped Professor Brent
(Lloyd Ingraham), whose electrical ray gun is used to shoot down the planes. Also arriving at the hideout is Natalie (Claudia
Dell), the professor's pretty daughter, who warns her father that women and children were among the victims of the latest
crash. Although Dawson is suspecting Tim to be a G-Man, the villain orders Brent to shoot down an incoming government plane.
There is an exchange of gunfire between Dawson and Tim, and Brent is shot attempting to shut off the ray gun. The professor
survives, however, and the villains are apprehended.
Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Language: English
• Theatrical Release Date: January
1, 1936
• NTSC
Lil Abner DVD $12.00
Actors: Jeff York, Martha O'Driscoll, Mona Ray, Johnnie Morris, Buster Keaton
Directors: Albert S. Rogell
Format:
Black & White, DVD-Video, Live, NTSC
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification:
NR (Not Rated) 1940
Run Time: 72 minutes
This screen adaptation of LI'L Abner does one thing very well: capture the bizarre physical look of Al Capp's outlandish
cartoon world. It's not just Granville Owen (a.k.a. Jeff York)'s muscle-bound, lantern-jawed, curlicue banged Abner either
; even the unrealistically squat, potato-nosed Mammy Yokum and outlandishly-bodied Daisy Mae look as if they stepped right
out of the newspaper and onto the screen, and the settings are very faithful. The cast's "rightness" goes beyond the physical;
while the characters are, by design, lacking in depth, the cast captures their personalities very well. Albert Rogell is to
be commended for casting the immortal Buster Keaton, even if it's in a part that doesn't allow him to shine very much. Abner
has the right look; it's too bad its charms are too much on the surface. Sadie hawkins Day plays a big [art of the show.
This
is the first of two filmed adaptations of Al Capp's classic comic strip, in which the title hillbilly (Granville Owen) does
his best to avoid the marital advances of girlfriend Daisy Mae (Martha O'Driscoll).
Lost Horizon $15.00 DVD Starring Ronald Colman; Jane Wyatt; John Howard; Directed by Frank Capra;
Originally Released in: 1937 Number of Discs: 1
Frank Capra's timeless masterpiece is fully restored. Based on James Hilton's book, five people stumble upon an idyllic
valley in the Himalayas called Shangri-La, where peace abounds and time has virtually stopped. Academy Award Nominations:
7, including Best Picture. Academy Awards: Best Film Editing, Best Interior Decoration.
Plot Synopsis:
The classic film adaptation of James Hilton's romantic novel of a paradise found... and almost lost
forever.
Revolution has broken out in China, and English diplomat Robert Conway and his brother George help to evacuate
British citizens from the danger zone. But on their way home, gunmen hijack their plane and take them off course; they finally
crash in the mountains of Tibet. To the survivors' surprise, a rescue team approaches and leads them into the land of Shangri-La.
Robert Conway discovers that the country, established nearly two centuries ago, has magic qualities; within its borders people
may survive for hundreds of years, and live in peace and harmony with each other and the world. For Robert, Shangri-La is
everything he ever dreamed of -- but his brother wants only to leave. Should he stay, and desert his brother... or go, and
never see Shangri-La again?
The Petrified Forest DVD $12.00
Actors: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin, Dick Foran, Humphrey Bogart
Directors: Archie Mayo, Roy Mack,
Friz Freleng
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Language English
1936
82Minutes
Leslie
Howard (the Hitchhiking author) and Humphrey Bogart (the wanted mobster on the run) and Bette Davis (the Paris dreaming
waitress) meet near the Petrified Forest and it is a matter of life or death. This was made again into a film called "Escape
in the Desert." This is a story a lot of people coming from different directions in their life. Together they evaluate and
solve their problems the best they can in a short given time. The beauty in this movie is the action and reaction of the characters.
$9.00 Mystery, murder and theater!
Phantom Of 42nd Street
• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Language: English
• Theatrical Release Date: May
2, 1945
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Import, Black & White, NTSC
A policeman teams up with a drama critic to solve a mystery in this drama. They look into a case involving a wealthy,
famous uncle who is killed backstage. His death destroys the Broadway debut of the uncle's niece whose father, also a very
popular actor, becomes the prime suspect as the recently bankrupt fellow was in line to inherit the uncle's fortune. It is
a complex case, but somehow the critic and the cop are able to sort through it all and reveal who the killer's identity is.
Stars: Dave O'Brien, Kay Aldridge and Alan Mowbray.
Tarzan Of The Apes 1932
$10.00 DVD James Parker (C. Aubrey Smith) is an English explorer in deepest Africa who has settled into the life of running a trading post. However, what he really
wants to do is search for - and find - the fabled Elephants' Graveyard which legend has it contains so much ivory that it
could make Parker a very rich man indeed. Currently, the thing he misses most about home is his daughter Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), so it's fortunate that she should arrive at the post that very day, eager to accompany her father on his expedition. Little
does she know what a life-changing adventure she is about to embark on...Luckily, there's one white man who respects his environment
and the locals, and he's Tarzan, played by the record-breaking Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller in the role almost everyone recalls him for. As I say, this is more Jane's tale than his, but he is integral to her breaking
away from her upbringing and family and standing on her own two feet. Already when we meet her she is well on the way to emancipation,
although she does have a tendency to cry and scream when in the face of danger - she almost follows one of the bearers off
a cliff.
When Jane is kidnapped by Tarzan she is frightened, but gradually she grows to like this rough wildman for
his tender side, and when she is recaptured by Parker and his right hand man Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton, the future Commissioner Gordon of TV's Batman), she is more hurt by the fact they shoot one of Tarzan's ape friends; Tarzan is pretty dismayed too. That seems to be the
supposedly civilised white men's answer to everything: just shoot it, so much so that I'm surprised they weren't taking potshots
at the mosquitos. Tarzan's way of life is far more appealing to Jane, she realises, and as he can save her from a tribe of
pygmies among other things, he has to be the man for her. The film may look primitive now, but Weissmuller and O'Sullivan
make a great couple, and it was a fine start to the celebrated series.
The Last Days Of Pompeii $12.00
DVD Classic 1935 movie of the end of Pompeii Actors: Wryley Birch, Ward Bond, Louis Calhern, Preston S. Foster, Alan Hale Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack Format: NTSC Language: English Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Fresh off their monumental success with King Kong, producer Merian Cooper and director Ernest Schoedsack teamed
again on The Last Days of Pompeii, another big-scale offering with a special-effects emphasis. Nominally based on the
Bulwer-Lytton book, the film invents a new storyline much in the spirit of the Cecil B. DeMille religioso-melodrama school.
Preston Foster plays a pacifist blacksmith whose life is ruined by fate; he turns his fighting skills to the gladiatorial
arena and raises a foster son. A cameo appearance by Jesus Christ affects the boy but not the man, and it all comes a-cropper
years later when Mount Vesuvius gets restless outside Pompeii's city limits. One of several definite bright spots: Basil
Rathbone, bringing his equine deliberation to the role of Pontius Pilate.
The last moments of The Last Days of Pompeii
are thrilling. Pompeii is one of those "historical" epics that plays fast and loose with history. They do well with Pontius
Pilate, helped no doubt by Basil Rathbone's sly performance. When the climactic destruction arrives, Willis O'Brien's special
effects make the viewer sit up and take notice. O'Brien's work is not as seamless as modern CGI, but it's still enormously
effective. As Marcus, Preston S. Foster goes through the motions with all the right feelings. Rathbone steals any scene he
is in, and Louis Calhern has decent moments.
See you at the Computer Shows and Sci-Fi Conventions.
FWD Computing* P.O. Box 17* Mexico, IN * US *
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